Office Ethics Sliding Again

The Ethics Resource Center is reporting that business ethics are back down to pre-Enron levels. (Hey - that could be because those ratfinks got off so easy! Although I bet Ken Lay is sorry now.) According to Patricia Harned, president of the ERC, "56 percent of 1,929 respondents at a broad range of companies said they witnessed ethical misconduct on the job within the past year." [as quoted by the Christian Science Monitor]
What does it takes for schools and companies to prioritize a culture of high moral standards? Better question: is it even their job to inculcate students and employees with a basic understanding and appreciation of right and wrong?
I say yes. When you join a company you align yourself with its mission statement. If its only goal is to profit regardless of ethical considerations, then that company is a bad corporate citizen and a second-rate employer. Hour for hour - your job is your life. Whether you are cutting lawns or interest rates, your job ought to have dignity. If your company doesn't care about ethics, and you are a thinking honest person, then you are going to die a little each day at work. Or maybe you'll get sucked into the gray or, more likely, you'll only work hard enough not to get fired.
Check out "Bad Behavior Goes Back to Work" csmonitor.com [when you visit an ad for The Economist pops up - are they affiliated?]